Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Holdings Trimmed by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Corient Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,115,764 shares of the company’s stock after selling 583,104 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC owned 0.12% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $309,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $721,782,000 after acquiring an additional 518,270 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $730,000. Northcape Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the third quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,787,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 37,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,252,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.0 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $94.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $239.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $93.57 and its 200 day moving average is $101.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.